A medical procedure within a body organ, such as the heart, typically uses one or more probes within the organ to perform various functions required by the procedure. The functions typically include operations such as ultrasonic or optical imaging, extraction of a biopsy sample, and/or performance of cryonic, ultrasonic or radio-frequency ablation. In the case of the heart the functions may also include measurement of electric potentials generated within the heart. Regardless of the functions, in all cases it is usually necessary to track the location and/or orientation of the operative portion of the probe, which is typically located at the distal end of the probe. Any method for improving the efficacy of such tracking would be beneficial.
Documents incorporated by reference in the present patent application are to be considered an integral part of the application except that to the extent any terms are defined in these incorporated documents in a manner that conflicts with the definitions made explicitly or implicitly in the present specification, only the definitions in the present specification should be considered.